The Best Time of Year

11 years ago today I married my wife, mother of my 4 children. I remember when choosing the date for our outdoor wedding, she consulted me for my weather expertise on when we should have our outdoor wedding. I said either September or October because these two months are the most beautiful and climatically stable months of the year in New England. Boy was a I right! I am a true summer lover, but it hard to argue with the beauty and ease of outdoor weather in the fall. Looking ahead, it appears we have a great stretch of fall weather ahead which will likely last much of the rest of the month of September!

Today was not ideal with an upper level low sitting over head. This upper trough helped to keep a steady midlevel cloud deck over head for much of the day with temps in the 60’s. The trough is lifting out tonight with clearing skies and cooler air settling in overnight with light NW winds. Lows will drop into the 40’s for most, upper 30’s in coldest NW valleys and hold in Lwr 50’s in downtown urban heat island.

High pressure builds over us for the next 24 hours. Sunday will start off a bit cool, but it will turn into an absolutely picture perfect day. Winds will be shifting to the WSW by the afternoon which will allow temps to climb to 70-75 degrees and make for a slightly warmer feel to the air with the sunshine. Pick of the weekend for sure!

High clouds will be advancing Sunday night. A weak cold will approach Monday. There will not be much moisture with this front, but it will come with a deck of clouds and the risk of a spot shower in the morning and afternoon. A few breaks of sun are possible, but abundant clouds will help to keep temps mainly in the 60’s near 70. Once this front pushes off the coast late Monday, another shot of cool fall-like air will be rushing in as we continue to the transition of the seasons.

High pressure quickly settles in Tuesday with sunshine, light winds and the feel of fall with highs near 62-65 degrees. Guess it’s time to start to think about that apple picking huh? Tuesday night will be even colder with widespread 30’s overnight, with the risk of some patchy frost in sheltered NW valleys. This high pressure center will control our weather for the middle to end of the week. As the high slides off the coast it will begin to wrap in warmer SW winds with highs climbing back into the 70’s to end the week.

A warm front will approach Friday with a few more clouds and a late shower. The cold front will push though late on Saturday and this will trigger scattered showers or storms. Breezy SW winds ahead of the cold front will push temps next Saturday to near 80. A cooler Sunday is expected.

Our second Hurricane of the season has formed. Hurricane Ingrid is drifting off the coast southern Mexico. Slight intensification is expected. Otherwise, The tropics remain quiet with still no threats anywhere along the US coastline. Let’s hope this can continue.

Signs of Fall: Harvest moon officially comes late Wednesday night-early Thursday. Here is a link to more info on the Harvest Moon

This is the last full weekend of summer as the Autumnal Equinox arrives at 4:44 Sunday September 22nd. It’s all heading in one direction. Luckily, we still have the weather which is looking very seasonal for this wonderful season!